Shared Burdens
by Dorky Sev
Summary: Sometimes, you can't handle everything on your own. That's where your partner comes in to remind you that you're not alone and that they're there to share the burdens with you. [Slight spoilers for vol 6 episode 8] Please read and review!
1. Flower's Talk

_She was running. Running after the familiar red cloak that she knew so well. Running after her partner, not wanting to leave her alone._

" _Ruby…!" she cried, trying her best to keep up with her. Trying to gab the cloak, but it kept slipping from her fingers._

 _Her partner was going somewhere far away without her._

" _Ruby!" she cried again, scared of how much distance is between them now and used her glyphs to try to catch up._

 _It was no use, by the time the she reached Ruby, she was on the floor, heavily injured…_

* * *

"Ruby!" Weiss gasped as she shot up and looked around, thanking the gods that she didn't wake anyone up and got up to wash her face in the bathroom, letting out a quiet laugh at how pathetic she looked in the mirror.

Quickly changing her clothes, she grabbed her weapon and snuck out of the Cotta-Arc house. She felt bad for sneaking away in the middle of the night, but she couldn't help it. They were so close to Atlas, she couldn't calm down at all. Not only that, that nightmare scared her and she started thinking back at their past battles. Battles where she was incompetent and brought down the team. It wasn't said, but that was how she felt, especially after the battle in Haven.

Gripping onto Myrtenaster, she walked towards an isolated area, not wanting to be too far away from the house but far enough where she could train in peace and not disturb anyone around.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused on her summons. She thought about which ones to summon, to practice against and summoned her usual knight. Gripping her weapon tightly, she pushed herself to summon a Queen lancer as well.

As soon as she did that, she felt drained and gritted her teeth. If two summons drained her this much, she'll just be a liability to her team and she didn't want that. She wanted to become stronger to help Ruby, not give her more to worry about.

She stood straight and looked at both of her summons, concentrating to make them fight each other to see how much energy it would drain her before she began to test her limits.

Since when has she become so weak? Was it because she didn't practice when she was back at Atlas? No… even before then, she was weak.

Weiss closed her eyes, thinking back on all the times she failed. Counting all of her mistakes starting from the most recent memory.

She lost to Vernal during the battle in Haven because she was overconfident in her summoning abilities and forgot about her sister's words.

She couldn't control her temper back at home during the party and lost her title as the Heiress.

She gave up the last remnants of her aura and sacrificed herself to give Yang an easier time during the tournament, but still failed in doing that.

She lost to the White Fang member and had to be rescued by Blake when she promised that she'd be fine.

She lost the chance to become team leader and threw a temper tantrum at the team.

She received a scar on her face wanting to apply for Beacon and almost lost that battle.

She always lost during her training sessions with Winter, always promising that she'd become better but has yet to.

 _She was born into the Schnee family_.

The ex-heiress laughed at herself as she shook her head, looking up to see both her summons were gone and that she was exhausted, unable to stand on her own.

Gripping Myrtenaster again, she forced herself to stand up straight and closed her eyes, attempting to summon a knight again but jumped when she felt a hand onto her shoulder.

"S-Sorry, Weiss!" a familiar voice apologized to her.

"Ruby…? What on Remnant are you doing here this late?! You should be asleep! Resting!" Weiss scolded her, knowing that she should be taking her own advice.

"I couldn't sleep." Ruby frowned as she looked at her partner. "I heard you call for me... but you were gone and I was worried." She took a step closer to her. "I told you that we wouldn't leave your side for a second, didn't I?"

Weiss frowned and looked away from her, putting her weapon away and held onto her arm. "I…" she sighed, feeling more exhausted than she did earlier. Now here she was doing the one thing that she didn't want to do. Worry her best friend and partner.

The young leader gently took her partner's hands and guided her towards the bench, helping her sit down and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Unconsciously, Weiss rested her head onto the other's shoulder, feeling a bit better now but was still angry at herself for making Ruby come and seek her out like this. "…I'm sorry."

"For?" Ruby raised a brow.

"For worrying you." Weiss said simply as she closed her eyes.

Ruby frowned and reached for Weiss' hand, holding onto it. "…You can talk to me you know."

"Speak for yourself." The ex-heiress laughed dryly. "You have a lot on your mind… let me deal with this on my own."

"Then I'll deal with what I'm thinking about on my own."

"Ruby…" Weiss sighed as she sat up, never letting go of her partner's hand. "Really, it's… nothing."

"Is it?"

Who were they kidding, they were both bad at hiding things from each other. They just didn't know how to talk about it.

"…we're partners right?" Weiss rubbed her thumb over Ruby's hand slowly, almost scared of the answer.

"…We are…" Ruby nodded slowly.

"Then we shouldn't really be hiding anything from each other." The ex-heiress sighed deeply then looked at Ruby. "…If I'm going to be honest, you should to." She held onto her hand gently. "I'm your partner Ruby… your best friend. I want to help you with what you're going through."

Silver eyes looked into blue, both getting lost for a moment before Ruby looked away.

"I…" her hand trembled. "I'm scared Weiss. I just…" she sighed, trying to organize her thoughts. "Ever since the fall, there was so much going on. Penny and Pyrrha died. Blake ran away. Your father took you away to Atlas. Yang… I didn't recognize her because she was sad and I got scared and ran away with Jaune, Ren, and Nora to walk all the way to Mistral." Tears started to fall from her eyes. "I-I was attacked by one of Salem's men and Uncle Qrow was injured and almost died because I wasn't skilled enough to protect myself. When we finally got back together, you almost died. Now it's this whole thing with Salem and my silver eyes…" She sobbed, hastily and roughly wiping her tears away. "I'm supposed to be the team leader and keeping you all safe, but I can't even do that right. Some team leader I am."

Weiss frowned. Was this really everything she was hiding from the others? From her? Gently, she pulled her partner into her arms and combed her hair while rubbing her back. All of this on her shoulders. This wasn't fair. She's only 16. She didn't deserve this. No one asked for this.

"Ruby…" she started slowly. "It'll be ok—"

"How do you know that, Weiss? What if everything _won't_ be ok?" Ruby pulled back, tears still flowing. "If we fail, then everything will be…"

"Ruby Rose." Weiss frowned as she placed both her hands onto her cheek so that she was looking into her eyes. "Let me finish first before you decide to shut me out again." She paused for a moment, thinking of what she was going to say earlier. "It will be ok. Do you know why? Because you're not _alone_." She wiped some tears away with her thumb before continuing. "You have Yang, Blake, and myself there for you. Even Jaune, Nora, Ren, Maria, Oscar… you're not alone in this Ruby. We're here to help you, so please… don't think for a second that you can do this on your own. You have friends to help you when you need it. If you can't stand, I'll be there to help you stand up and walk. If you have fallen into the darkness, then I'll just fight my way to pull you back into the light."

Ruby just stared at Weiss for a moment then tackled her into a tight hug, crying openly.

Weiss combed her hair and rubbed her back again, letting her cry it all out. Heavens know that the young leader really needed it.

Soon both young women lost track of time, unsure of how long Ruby was there crying onto Weiss' shoulder. It could've been five minutes. Ten minutes. Half an hour. An hour. Neither really cared. They both just held onto each other for comfort and warmth.

Once her tears has ran dry, Ruby slowly pulled away, wiping her face with her sleeve causing Weiss to roll her eyes and pull out a handkerchief and wiped her face for her.

"…do you feel better?" Weiss asked gently, holding onto Ruby's hand.

She nodded weakly and rested her head onto her partner's shoulder. "…your turn."

"What?"

"You said that we were partners… so we shouldn't hide anything from each other… so it's your turn now." Ruby wrapped her arm around Weiss' waist while the other still held onto her hand.

Weiss sighed, almost forgetting that she said that earlier and rested her head onto Ruby's.

"I don't even know where to begin…" she started then closed her eyes, exhaustion getting to her but maybe it'll be easier for her to talk. "I made you a promise that I'd be the best teammate that you'll ever have… but I feel like I'm just dragging the team down with my incompetence. I'm afraid of what my father would do once we reach Atlas. If what happened at the gates was any indication of what might happen, I'm worried about how Blake and Yang will be _treated_ once we arrive _in_ Atlas." The hand that the ex-heiress held on Ruby's started to tremble but the young leader gave her a gentle squeeze onto it to comfort her. "I'm trying to think of a way to defeat Salem, but I'm not sure how we can defeat someone who's immortal and…" she bit her lip, moving her head so that she was looking at her partner. "I'm scared… that I won't be able to protect you." She said quietly, almost above a whisper.

"Weiss…?"

"I… I had a nightmare about you… about you leaving me behind and by the time I get to you, you're dead." Her voice shook as she tried to hold back her tears. "I'm scared for you, Ruby... I came out here to train and become stronger, but I've mostly been reflecting on my past failures. Thinking back, I haven't grown at all. I'm still the weak little girl that's just a huge _burden_ on every—"

 _SLAP_

Weiss blinked when she felt both of Ruby's hand against her cheek, a stinging sensation finally registered that her partner just _slapped_ both her hands onto her cheek.

" _Ruby_ —"

"No… it's my turn to cheer you up now. So listen up, Weiss Schnee." Ruby looked at her seriously.

Weiss blinked the tears away, never hearing Ruby use her full name like that before.

"You're not a burden to anyone here, ok? We all love and care about you." She said gently, making sure that she was looking into those icy blue eyes that she cared about so much. "You haven't failed me or anyone else. You're doing your best and you never left anyone willingly. You're the best person a friend could ever ask for, Weiss. We'll worry about your Father once we arrive in Atlas… and as for Salem…" she sighed, unsure of how to really say. "We'll come up with something, but one step at a time. I really meant it when I said that we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas, seal the relic, then figure out what we can do with Salem."

The ex-heiress gave her a soft smile and nodded slowly, pulling Ruby into a hug.

They stayed like that for a while longer before slowly pulling away. "…we should head back before your sister kills me."

"Yeah we should." Ruby merely laughed, realizing how late it was and stood up.

Weiss also stood up but stumbled forward only for Ruby to catch her. "I guess I'm still exhausted…" she laughed at herself as she wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulder.

"Don't worry. You're really light… like scary light. Have you been eating well?" Ruby frowned.

"Ruby, we've been together a good amount of time since we found each other in Mistral. I've been eating the same food that you have been." Weiss merely rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you eat the same _amount_." Ruby started walking back towards the Cotta-Arc house.

"Well some of us doesn't have a monstrous appetite like you, Yang, and Nora!" Weiss laughed as she leaned onto her partner more, wanting to lie down in the bed now that some weight was lifted from her shoulders.

Ruby laughed at her joke and nuzzled against her head. "Feeling tired, princess?"

"Ugh… don't call me that horrible nickname again." Weiss groaned as she closed her eyes.

"Aww, so do you prefer me calling you Ice Queen?" Ruby grinned.

"How about I call you 'crater face' instead of 'dolt'?" Weiss smirked when she felt her partner's grin fall.

"…I can't believe you still remember that."

The ex-heiress merely rolled her eyes. "It's hard to forget such an… explosive meeting."

"Well I said that I was sorry!" Ruby stuck out her tongue at her partner, quietly opening the door and walked in, helping Weiss walk towards her room.

They both turned away from each other as they changed their clothes, Ruby glancing at Weiss in time to see the scar that marred her beautiful body just weeks before.

Unconsciously, she walked towards her partner and lightly touched where she was impaled, causing her to jump.

"R-Ruby?!" Weiss was surprised by the act and frowned when she looked like she was about to cry again.

"I just…" she bit her lip and moved towards the bed, sitting down. "I'm sorry, Weiss."

Shaking her head, Weiss knelt down by the bed so that she could see Ruby's face. "This was because I was overconfident in my summoning abilities and wasn't thinking about… my other skills."

She had a good number of things that she could've done. Time-dilation, holding the enemy in place, use offensive dust like fire and ice… none of them crossed her mind because she was stubborn about summoning her knight.

"So don't think that my wound is your fault, Ruby."

Ruby just nodded weakly and lay down in bed. "…Can you… lie with me?"

"Scared that I'm going to run off again?" Weiss raised a brow but she saw how scared Ruby looked at her with those silver eyes of hers. Frowning, she moved onto the bed with her and held onto her closely. "…you're lucky that I'm tired and don't want to move too far."

"You know that I love you." Ruby giggled as she snuggled up to her partner.

"I love you too—wait, Ruby?!" Weiss blushed madly but didn't get an answer, Ruby was already fast asleep. "…Dolt." She gave her a soft smile as she kissed her forehead, holding onto her protectively as she fell asleep.

* * *

Yang smirked as she folded her scroll after saving the confession and picture of them cuddled together.

"You know...she's going to hate you for this." Blake chuckled quietly.

"And it'll be worth it!" Yang closed the door as quietly as she could. "Payback for making us worried."

* * *

A/N: Ok.. it's been a really long time since I wrote stuff like this so sorry if the characters seem out of character. This takes place a little after Vol 6 episode 8. Hope that y'all enjoy it~ Please read and review~


	2. Bee's Talk

" _Stop. Where are you going? Don't go. Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone again. Blake!"_

 _She stepped forward and nearly slipped. Slipped? She looked down and saw blood. Looking around she saw her sister and partner on the floor, not breathing._

 _No… No…!_

 _She looked up and saw her partner's back._

" _Blake!"_

 _She ran forward to reach her… but by the time she reached out to her, the Faunus fell to the ground and she saw a man with red hair smirking at her._

" _NOOOOO!"_

* * *

Yang gasped as she shot up and looked around, running a hand through her hair as she took deep breaths.

"Just a dream… just a dream…" she mumbled to herself and got out of bed, maybe grabbing something to drink would calm her down.

She got out of bed then left the room, being quiet so that she didn't wake anyone up and caught sight of a certain red cape leaving the house.

"Ruby?" she shook her head. No, it was late at night. There was no way that she'd be up and out this late.

Yang walked towards the kitchen, about to reach for a glass but she jumped back seeing a black figure.

"H-Hey, it's just me." Blake raised her hands to show that she meant no harm and her ears folded on top of her head. "Are you ok?"

"Gods, Blake… you scared me…" _And I thought that you were Adam…_ Her left hand shook and she gripped it to stop shaking.

Frowning at the sight, the Faunus moved closer to her partner and took both her hands gently within her own. "…did you have a nightmare?"

"No... I mean yes... I mean…" the blonde sighed deeply, gripping Blake's hands nervously. "…I did." She shook her head and wanted to change the subject. "What are you doing up anyways? It's pretty late."

"I heard the door open and didn't see Weiss or Ruby around… then saw you. I was worried." Blake was being honest with her, wanting to be what they were before but was unsure of how to go about it.

She looked down, worried about what Yang was dreaming about but knew what she'd want to do next.

"Ruby and Weiss aren't here?" Yang questioned, looking out the door. "So she did leave earlier…"

"Yang…" Blake looked at her, waiting for her lilac eyes to meet her own before continuing. "We… can look for her together." The words sounded a little forced, that she wanted to talk with her, but she didn't know how.

Sighing, Yang nodded. "…I need to talk to you about something anyways."

The Faunus blinked, not expecting her partner to mention that they needed a talk. Slowly nodding, she followed Yang out the door, figuring that Yang was going to talk with her while looking for Ruby.

They talked in silence for a while, unsure of how much time passed. Blake looked at Yang then looked ahead, watching where they were going then blinked when she heard her partner stopping in her tracks.

"Yang?"

"…Do you promise that you're not going anywhere?" Yang suddenly asked her, looking into her golden eyes seriously.

"I…" she nodded. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you alone. I promised you that didn't I?"

"…yeah. You did." Yang sighed, remembering what Blake said after their battle in Haven, though part of her still hated what she said just two days earlier.

Blake frowned when she saw her expression. "Yang…?"

"It's nothing. Come on, Ruby couldn't have gone too far." She shook her head, starting to walk again to look for her sister.

"Yang." Blake took her hand before her partner walked too far away from her. "You said that you wanted to talk. Don't… shut me out. Please. I want to help. I'm… I'm your partner, and I'm sorry for leaving but—"

"But what Blake?" Yang cut her off and sighed, rubbing her head. "…I had a talk with Weiss when we were in Mistral." She started slowly, trying to find her words. "She said that… you left us to protect us." She looked at her partner. "That you tried to keep your past separated from us, but the second that you trusted us, the universe made you regret that choice." The blonde frowned as she looked away, glad that they were outside so no one else was listening to what she was saying. "…why? I don't blame you for anything. I wanted to be there for you but you won't let me. I needed you there for me too…! I… just… why?"

Blake's eyes widened as she listened to her and looked away, unsure of how to answer. "I…" her ears folded on top of her head. "I'm sorry, Yang. I… Adam he… that day, he said that he was going to make it his mission… to destroy everything that I love." Her hand shook as she held her arm. "…starting with you. I didn't want that to happen. When he did _that_ to you…" tears fell from her eyes. "I'm so sorry Yang… I just…" She couldn't face her as she wiped her tears.

Was that why she was so angry with her? She said that they were going to be fine weren't they? What changed? They were fine until the barn… the barn.

" _I'm not leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise that I'll be there. I'll protect you."_

Blake's eyes widened as she started to realize it. Yang seemed colder to her after she said that. Was that the reason? Because when she said that she'd protect her, her partner thought that she meant that she needed protecting?

The Faunus hesitantly looked up to see her partner in the eyes who just looked back at her. Her eyes filled with hurt and loneliness.

"Yang…" Blake took both her hands into her own, gripping them tightly. "I'm… I promised that I'm not leaving you." Her hands shook, unaccustomed to reassuring others with words but she was trying. "I'm sorry that I hurt you for leaving, that I left you behind… but I'm back now and… I want to have some of your strength."

"…what?" the blonde was confused now. What did she mean strength?

Blake took a deep breath as she looked away. "Yang… to me, you remind of me strength. You never back down, fighting for people that you care about… you're always there, standing tall when we're by your side, giving us the strength to fight." she held onto her hands. "I told you before, Yang… that my semblance just leaves behind a shadow of myself – an empty shell of myself that can take a hit while I run away. I wish that I could be strong like you so that I can be by your side as an equal." She paused for a moment, carefully choosing her next words so she doesn't make the same mistake as last time. "As your partner."

Yang looked at the Faunus, unsure of what she heard. She was strength? She looked at her prosthetic arm and held onto her partner's hand. How could she still see her as 'strength' after everything that's happened?

"Yang… I promise… I'm not leaving your side. Please, believe me when I say that." Blake nearly begged her, clearly feeling guilty for leaving her partner once and seeing how devastated she looked when she saw her until she reassured the team that she wasn't going anywhere.

"You're not going to let me pick up the pieces alone are you?" Yang finally spoke after what seemed like an hour.

Blake blinked when she said that, looking at how serious her partner looked at her and nodded. "I'll help you pick it up if I have to—ah!"

The blonde pulled her partner into a tight hug. "I never blamed you for what happened that night, Blake. You may leave behind a shadow of yourself, but you always came back to us… to me. That means more than you think."

The cat Faunus smiled into the hug, holding onto her partner tightly. She may not have been forgiven completely, but with time, they'll be fine just like Yang promised days earlier.

"Come on, Ruby and Weiss are probably back at the house by now." Yang slowly pulled away while Blake pouted a bit, missing the warmth that she loved so much. Noticing the pout, Yang smirked. "Is the little kitty _feline_ cold?"

"…That part of you I so did not miss." Blake gave her a weak smile as she took her partner's hand, starting to walk towards the house.

" _Un-fur-tunate fur_ _mew,_ I have a long list that I never used."

The Faunus did everything within her power to not groan at the endless torture of puns that was coming soon.

Once they entered the Cotta-Arc house, they went to check if their teammates were back yet then saw them changing into their nightclothes.

"Looks like they're back." Yang whispered to Blake, about to close the door but heard Weiss talking.

"… _thinking about… my other skills."_

Wait a second! Quickly pulling out her scroll, she made sure that she wasn't caught as she recorded what was going on.

" _You know that I love you."_

" _I love you too."_

 _Click_

Yang smirked as she folded her scroll after saving the confession and picture of them cuddled together.

"You know...she's going to hate you for this." Blake chuckled quietly.

"And it'll be worth it!" Yang closed the door as quietly as she could. "Payback for making us worried."

Blake merely rolled her eyes as she tugged her partner towards their room so that they could get the rest that they deserve.

"Time for our _cat_ to _nap_?" Yang smirked at the Faunus who just slapped her arm and narrowed her eyes.

"You're sleeping on the floor tonight."

" _Paw-lease_ Blake. I'm _paw-sitive_ that you wouldn't let me sleep on the floor." The blonde kept smirking only to be met with a pillow to the face.

"Good night, Yang." Blake rolled her eyes as she head a muffled laugh and curled into a ball into the bed. Yeah. They were going to be fine.

* * *

A/N: Alright, here's the bee's version. This takes place around the same time as White Rose in the last chapter.

Honestly I wasn't going to write this version... but thought that it would be a good challenge for me. (I have a hard time getting into their heads for some reason.) I tried to think of how they would talk and couldn't think of how they could in character, so I apologize in advance for the inaccuracies.

Hope that you enjoy it~ Please read and review~


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